Raymond Arsenault
Encyclopedia
Raymond Arsenault is an American historian and academic, and the John Hope Franklin
Professor of Southern History and co-director of the Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida
, St. Petersburg, where he has taught since 1980. He is best known for his 2006 work on the 1961 Freedom Rides, a critical event in the Civil Rights movement, which later became the basis of 2010 documentary, Freedom Riders, and also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show on a show dedicated to Freedom Riders. He has been awarded the Frank L. and Harriet C. Owsley Award of the Southern Historical Association and the 2006 PSP Award for Excellence Honorable Mention History & American Studies.
A specialist in the political, social, and environmental history
of the American South.
in 1948. He holds a B.A. in History from Princeton University
(1969, Magna cum laude), M.A. Brandeis University (1974) (American History) and a PhD in American History from Brandeis University
(1981).
, Brandeis University
, and at the Universite d’Angers
, in France
, where he was a Fulbright Lecturer in 1984-85. He has served as a consultant for numerous museums and public institutions, including the National Park Service
, the National Civil Rights Museum
, the Rosa Parks
Library and Museum at Troy University
in Alabama, and the United States Information Agency
.
John Hope Franklin
John Hope Franklin was a United States historian and past president of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association. Franklin is best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and...
Professor of Southern History and co-director of the Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
, St. Petersburg, where he has taught since 1980. He is best known for his 2006 work on the 1961 Freedom Rides, a critical event in the Civil Rights movement, which later became the basis of 2010 documentary, Freedom Riders, and also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show on a show dedicated to Freedom Riders. He has been awarded the Frank L. and Harriet C. Owsley Award of the Southern Historical Association and the 2006 PSP Award for Excellence Honorable Mention History & American Studies.
A specialist in the political, social, and environmental history
Environmental history
Environmental history, a branch of historiography, is the study of human interaction with the natural world over time. In contrast to other historical disciplines, it emphasizes the active role nature plays in influencing human affairs. Environmental historians study how humans both shape their...
of the American South.
Early life and education
Raymond Ostby Arsenault was born in Hyannis, MassachusettsHyannis, Massachusetts
Hyannis is the largest of seven villages in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Also it is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area as a result of the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hyannis as the "Capital of the Cape"...
in 1948. He holds a B.A. in History from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1969, Magna cum laude), M.A. Brandeis University (1974) (American History) and a PhD in American History from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
(1981).
Career
Arsenault has also taught at the University of MinnesotaUniversity of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, and at the Universite d’Angers
University of Angers
The University of Angers is an institution of higher learning situated in the town of the same name, in western France. It was founded in 1356, closed down in 1793, and reestablished in 1971....
, in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where he was a Fulbright Lecturer in 1984-85. He has served as a consultant for numerous museums and public institutions, including the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, the National Civil Rights Museum
National Civil Rights Museum
The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is a privately owned complex of museums and historic buildings built around the former Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street, where Martin Luther King, Jr...
, the Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
Library and Museum at Troy University
Troy University
Troy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...
in Alabama, and the United States Information Agency
United States Information Agency
The United States Information Agency , which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were...
.
Personal life
He is married to Kathleen Hardee Arsenault, retired University library dean and the couple have daughters, Amelia (32), Anne (29).Publications
Books:- Arsenault, Raymond. (2006) Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice New York: Oxford University Press.
- Arsenault, Raymond. (2011) Abridged Version: Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice New York: Oxford University Press.
- Arsenault, Raymond. (1984) "The End of the Long Hot Summer: The Air Conditioner and Southern Culture. Journal of Southern History. 50(4): 597-628.
- Arsenault, Raymond. The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the concert that awakened America (2009). ISBN 1596915781
- Arsenault, Raymond. The Wild Ass of the Ozarks: Jeff Davis and the Social Bases of Southern Politics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1984. (paperback: Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1988).(awarded the 1985 Virginia Ledbetter Prize).
- Arsenault, Raymond. St. Petersburg and the Florida Dream, 1888-1950. Norfolk: Donning, 1988. (2nd. Ed.: Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996) (Paperback edition, 19 98)(awarded the 1990 Charlton Tebeau Prize).
- Arsenault, Raymond. Crucible of Liberty: 200 Years of the Bill of Rights. (Editor) New York: The Free Press, 1991.
- Arsenault, Raymond. The Changing South of Gene Patterson: Journalism and Civil Rights, 1960-1968. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002. (Co-editor with Roy Peter Clark)
- Arsenault, Raymond. Paradise Lost? The Environmental History of Florida. Gainesville:University Press of Florida, 2005. (Co-editor with Jack E.Davis)
- Arsenault, Raymond. The Third Space of Enunciation: Proceedings of the English Department Conference, 9–10 March 2006 (Editor)(Gabes, Tunisia: High Institute of Languages, Gabes, 2008).
External links
- Raymond Arsenault at University of South FloridaUniversity of South FloridaThe University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
- Raymond Arsenault, website